Tesco's IT-generated competitive advantage

TESCO's success came from the introduction of Clubcard and its diversification through other investments. However, IT played a very important role to derive that success.

First, the point-of-sale technology and the supporting computer systems to handle the Clubcard information managed to process the complicated loyalty scheme, which efficiently resulted an increase of sale within 6 months of the Clubcard introduction.

Second, Tesco kept on spending on IT in order to handle the increasing volume of Clubcard information as the loyal scheme continuing expanding. The case described that Tesco invested in the NCR Teradata data warehouse to provide a 360º-view of its customers.

Third, Tesco also devoted itself in developing online e-grocer through Tesco.com and linking Clubcard with Tesco's banking services. All the diversifications could only be made possible by implementing a sound IT platform. Although not being mentioned in the case, I would suspect that Tesco must have implemented ERP in order to channel information efficiently.

CasaDelLibro.com

If I were the manager of Casa del Libro in 2002, I would have switched to the new platform mainly due to cost reduction. During that time, the global economic environment was surrounded with uncertainties, trying to recover from the 911 terriost attack and recession. Moreover, the online market was still trying to gain acceptance from consumers and, therefore, income from the online business did not seem to be forecastable. As a result, the cost saving would be my most important criteria, and I would have adapted the new system of Microsoft then perhaps switch to a more comprehensive and sophisticated system after consumers started getting used to the online shopping.

Chicken first or Egg first - Brief thought about ERP

According to Wikipedia's definition, Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is an Integrated computer-based system used to manage internal and external resources including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and human resources. It is a software architecture whose purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. Built on a centralized database and normally utilizing a common computing platform, ERP systems consolidate all business operations into a uniform and enterprise wide system environment.

In my opinion, ERP should adapt to companies' need. The idea of ERP is to integrate different infomation of different department into one homogenous software infrastruture. As different firms may have different structure to suit their specific neends, it is difficult, if not impossible, for firms to adapt into one system that may only define "standardised" organisational structure. However, as customised ERP system is limited, firms may nevertheless need to adjust themselves to the pre-set ERP and, therefore, may lose a degree of competitive advantage due to the "standardisation".

Dell and Toyota

Recently in the Information Class, the Dell Hell case was discussed. Basically it was about a Blogger, Jeff Jarvis, who bought a Dell lemon in 2005 and constantly encountered unpleasant experience by Dell's incompetent customer service. He then started publishing comments regarding to his frustration on his blog, and various international news agencies also started referring to the comments on their magazines and websites. Interestingly, Dell's share price started declining.

Regardless whether the decline of the share price could be attributed to the comments, Dell's poor crisis management was something worth to analyse. If one is put in the same situation like Dell, what should he/she do to resolve the tension and further improve the company. The following points are some of my thoughts.

- Jeff Carrol, my classmate, suggested that perhaps Dell could "hire" Mr. Jarvis as an internal advisor so that Dell could understand what the customers need.
- Size does not matter. Internet has become transnational and allows information to flow on a click of the mouse. One customer may represent the entire community of the existing or prospective Dell users and, therefore, an organisation should not think a random criticism is that random.
- Do not be reactive. Be proactive. Sometimes apology may imply that a firm has committed a fault, but it is perhaps the best way to save its reputation and move on to improvise.
- Over the long term, a firm should put more attention on understanding what customers want. Although it may be more costly, a clear communication channel between customers and firms should be established.

The Dell case reminds me alot of Toyota. Toyota also denied the allegation at first but the chairperson was forced to apologise in the end. Reputation and trust are the souls for firms to survive in the modern world. Only by implementing and adopting sound crisis management, firms could still save itself from disasters if they do occur.

Facebook to be faced-off?

I love facebook and I never deny that my addiction has become un-curable. The social website has helped me to reconnect with my friends, some had been lost for ages, chase back my memory and know new friends before knowing each other face to face.

But where will Facebook be in 2 years time?

In my opinion, perhaps Facebook will be the Google of personal profile (maybe it has already become one). The privacy issue will still be a huge question that Facebook needs to deal with.

Furthermore, although Facebook is not generating enough revenue, it is certainly one of the hottest acquiring target and it will even magnify the concern over privacy issue. Just imagine if XYZ company acquires Facebook, the profile data may face the risk of leaking information.

But should Facebook follow Google's path to generate revenue from advertisement, Facebook may also get IPO and potentially becomes one of largest internet company in the world.

Who knows? I wish I know. As a loyal fan of Facebook, I hope the website can also "don't be evil" and soon get IPOed. I will surely become one of shareholders of Facebook. For now, let me continue spying my friends' profile.

Google, Google, and there is no trouble as long as "Don't Be Evil"

When it comes to technology, I must confess that I am not a gadget man. For example, I only discovered how to use internet in 1998 and bought my first laptop in 2000. Before that, information was extremely difficult to obtain and I, as a student at that time, could only obtain knowledge by spending time in library or money to get books.

However, it was only upon the launch of Google, my world had been changed completely. Simply by putting key words in its search engine, I could findmajor websites that matched the words, andy pace and depth of research and knowledge of learning leaped. Nowadays, I still rely on Google to search, to find directions, to translate, to share documents and to write my blog! It has certainly penetrated my life and become one of my necessities.

In my opinion, the most important functions of Google are 1) Search Engine, 2) Google Earth/Map, and 3) Google Wave!!!!

The search engine: Need I say more? Although Google has been critised for invasion of privacy and copyright, it is probably the most important invention in the internet industry and has revolutionised our mindset and chaned the way we view the world. Just by "Googling" it, one can find almost every relevant information that is available from the net. I cannot imagine my life without it.

Google Earth/Map: "Everywhere I go, I'll be watching it". Before arriving Madrid, I had already known where I would stay and how I could walk from my hotel to IE. By using street view, I am extremely confident to walk around the town and know exactly which building would appear when I reach my destination. Furthermore, I will also know which restaurant or cafe is nearby.

Google Wave: Wikipedia described that Google wave is "a new web application for real-time communication and collabaration as Google claimed". In another words, it is a platform that combines communication such as email and chat, and work-in-progress such as documents and videos. What an application (to sink Mircosoft Office). Seeing is believing, please refer to the following videos to check it out. For those who are not techs, the second one is easier to understand.






In the end, I just want to express something that I have always felt regretted. "Damn! I should have bought Google's share when it was IPOed." (It went from $85 in 2004 to $700 in 2007)

Microsoft at crossroad

I still remember that my first computer was a 386, which used DOS 4.0 (if I remember correctly), and I used to remember every command in order to run various programs. Afterwards Windows 3.1 became available and looked much more user-friendly and fancier, but I did not use it much as it was more like a compliment for DOS instead of a true operating system. At that moment, I did not quite know where Apple was.

From 1995, as Microsoft released Windows 95, I had became a loyal user of Windows due to its compatibility and easy to use infrastructure until the shocking Vista came to the market. Suddenly I questioned whether Microsoft was still a market leader or had fallen behind as a market follower. Ironically, thanks to the failure of Vista, Apple's Powerbook that boosted internet security, stability and better graphic performance started to attract attention and gain more market share.

So WHERE IS MICROSOFT STANDING NOW?

In my opinion, Microsoft may still be the market leader in terms of the market share. Companies and organisations still use Windows as it is preloaded with the purchase of computers, and most of programs are only compatible with Windows, not Mac. For example, Mac's iWork or office for Mac cannot install various add-on for Excel, which may be a pain for engineers or analysts. Various games still rely on Windows, although more and more games have been put online.

However, Windows is continuously criticised for its internet security problem (every PC needs an anti-virus program) and imitating Apple's OS. The list can go on and on.

In sum, I think the company is at the crossroad. In terms of operating system, Microsoft is not as innovative and attractive as before when comparing to Apple. Microsoft doesn't only need to compete with Apple, but also face the new threat of Google Chrome. The company definitely needs more attention on developing a program that can at least match Apple's OS and understanding customers' need. At the end, I just wanna confess that I switched from Mac back to PC due to its better compatibility and stability; Windows 7 has improved a lot and I feel satisfied so far.